Toast Jamarra Ugle-Hagan - Welcome to the club

[Lacustrus]

He's got the bloodlines for it, being Gunditjmara and all! Many famous Indigenous boxers and athletes are/were from that mob. The great Lionel Rose, Lachie 'Baby Cass' Austin, Porky Brooke plus many other talented tent fighters, just to name a few.

Absolute gem, excited to see him play and grow.

All very nice, but don't neglect Marra's white heritage which is >50% of his bloodline. His dad, which he is a spitting image of and build, was a great runner.. And he has relations back to Jack Dyer...

 

[Th3 DoG FaTh3R]

All very nice, but don't neglect Marra's white heritage which is >50% of his bloodline. His dad, which he is a spitting image of and build, was a great runner.. And he has relations back to Jack Dyer...

Haven’t heard much about his Dad’s running pedigree or relations with Jack Dyer, can you expand on this please?

 

[Lacustrus]

Haven’t heard much about his Dad’s running pedigree or relations with Jack Dyer, can you expand on this please?

Marra's dad won inter-school cross country, but knee injury as a teen, then surgery, it went wrong as surgeon left a medical instrument behind. It was extracted later, but knee never the same. Marra followed Essendon bc of his dad.
Great great grandfather #1 - first cousin to J Dyer & Collingwood tried to poach him, #2 GGF close to playing for Geelong, but WW2 call up. Later captained coached Terang. Note, this is a time when footy was amateur and country league was very strong, many player would have walked straight into VFA/VFL teams (for example Ronny Wearmouth's dad was a Terang legend, and probably better player than Ronnie but never played for VFL).

 

[Lacustrus]

Haven’t heard much about his Dad’s running pedigree or relations with Jack Dyer, can you expand on this please?

And while I remember, it was his dad' grandfather that taught Marra to kick as a 3 year old in the back yard, for hours on end...

 

[Dogs_R_Us]

The Bulldog Tragician has just posted her article on JUH

www.bulldogtragician.com

 

[Hoges64]

And while I remember, it was his dad' grandfather that taught Marra to kick as a 3 year old in the back yard, for hours on end...

Wish he'd done a better job...

 

[Lindsay_Gilbee]

Marra's dad won inter-school cross country, but knee injury as a teen, then surgery, it went wrong as surgeon left a medical instrument behind. It was extracted later, but knee never the same. Marra followed Essendon bc of his dad.
Great great grandfather #1 - first cousin to J Dyer & Collingwood tried to poach him, #2 GGF close to playing for Geelong, but WW2 call up. Later captained coached Terang. Note, this is a time when footy was amateur and country league was very strong, many player would have walked straight into VFA/VFL teams (for example Ronny Wearmouth's dad was a Terang legend, and probably better player than Ronnie but never played for VFL).

Thankfully our NGA introduced him to football

 

[Lacustrus]

Thankfully our NGA introduced him to football

Hahaha! Actually, he is a good kid, and I'm rapt that he's gone to a good club committed to working with draftees of any background

 

[Th3 DoG FaTh3R]

Thanks for that Lacustrus I always find those stories interesting. Let’s hope Marra has an injury free run at it but if he does need surgery I’m confident that no instruments will remain inside him

 

[The Inbetweener]

Spotted him at my gym today with Bont, warms the heart to see Bont really take him under his wing

 

[Fossie 32]

Thanks for that Lacustrus I always find those stories interesting. Let’s hope Marra has an injury free run at it but if he does need surgery I’m confident that no instruments will remain inside him

Big effort to leave an instrument behind after knee surgery

 

[Virgin Dog]

Big effort to leave an instrument behind after knee surgery

My father in law had a surgeon open up the wrong knee when he needed a reconstruction when he was younger. It's incredible how terrible our health industry could be 40+ years ago

 

[D Mitchell]

Marra's dad won inter-school cross country, but knee injury as a teen, then surgery, it went wrong as surgeon left a medical instrument behind. It was extracted later, but knee never the same. Marra followed Essendon bc of his dad.
Great great grandfather #1 - first cousin to J Dyer & Collingwood tried to poach him, #2 GGF close to playing for Geelong, but WW2 call up. Later captained coached Terang. Note, this is a time when footy was amateur and country league was very strong, many player would have walked straight into VFA/VFL teams (for example Ronny Wearmouth's dad was a Terang legend, and probably better player than Ronnie but never played for VFL).

Good post. You probably work for ancestry.com. That's the way of it. When Halle Berry won the Academy/Oscar ?? in 2002, she was touted as the first or whatever black American actress to have won it, overlooking her mother, white Englishwoman Judith Hawkins (could she have been Doug's long lost Aunt ?). Megan Markle, anyone ? Richard 'Dick' Wearmouth, Ronnie's dad, played 100 games for Footscray, mainly on the wing, kicked 27 goals. The story I heard was that Footscray approached Ronnie but his father wouldn't let Ronnie go to F'scray. It was told to me that the reason for the refusal was how poorly Footscray was run, Kevin Sheedy is reputed to have described our club as a 'sh.t club'. Times change.

 

[D Mitchell]

My father in law had a surgeon open up the wrong knee when he needed a reconstruction when he was younger. It's incredible how terrible our health industry could be 40+ years ago

or is this the ultimate couldabeen story ?

 

[Virgin Dog]

or is this the ultimate couldabeen story ?

Another classic "I would've been drafted if I hadn't done my knee"

Funnily enough, on a serious note, back in the VFL days he was offered the role as Treasurer of Footscray, but turned it down as he was concerned about it being an unstable job opportunity..

 

[D Mitchell]

....he was offered the role as Treasurer of Footscray, but turned it down as he was concerned about it being an unstable job opportunity..

Instant death for any corporate career. In the bad old days, there was a bloke, Stephen Smith, tall, skinny, dead-pan face, looked like he'd missed his own funeral. He claimed to be Treasurer but he could have been Secretary, titles merge, he might have even have been Coach, last seen selling socks on a bridge in Bombay. He was the face of the Club before Dr Tony Capes, last of the decent blokes. Now we have, as President, Kylie, not her fault. When most of you hear 'Kylie' you think of the best Australian female backside ever. Some of us think 'she goes, she goes, she goes' ... from Rob Sitch's comedy show. In 1954, the Club President was Otto Grobbecker. Otto ? Kylie's fine.

 

[Philthy1]

Good post. You probably work for ancestry.com. That's the way of it. When Halle Berry won the Academy/Oscar ?? in 2002, she was touted as the first or whatever black American actress to have won it, overlooking her mother, white Englishwoman Judith Hawkins (could she have been Doug's long lost Aunt ?). Megan Markle, anyone ? Richard 'Dick' Wearmouth, Ronnie's dad, played 100 games for Footscray, mainly on the wing, kicked 27 goals. The story I heard was that Footscray approached Ronnie but his father wouldn't let Ronnie go to F'scray. It was told to me that the reason for the refusal was how poorly Footscray was run, Kevin Sheedy is reputed to have described our club as a 'sh.t club'. Times change.

The Wearmouth story doesn’t surprise me but is reflective of the VFL era, not the AFL era. We have our $hit together now. The period from the mid-60s to 1990 was reflective of the fact that we just had no money.

 

[D Mitchell]

The Wearmouth story doesn’t surprise me but is reflective of the VFL era, not the AFL era. We have our $hit together now. The period from the mid-60s to 1990 was reflective of the fact that we just had no money.

The mystery is why it took so long. Footscray should have become a power club after 1954, demographics and the emerging economy dictated that it should have.

 

[dogwatch]

The Wearmouth story doesn’t surprise me but is reflective of the VFL era, not the AFL era. We have our $hit together now. The period from the mid-60s to 1990 was reflective of the fact that we just had no money.

I heard the same story about the Reid brothers, Sam and Ben, being told by their dad (Bruce, 86 games for Footscray) not to go to the Bulldogs because it had no future. As with all these stories it's just what I was told - can't verify it - but it's believable.

When you have a vicious circle like that it can be hard to break out of it. Success breeds success. Failure breeds failure.

Surviving past Fightback into the AFL era was the most crucial event in our VFL history. We've gradually built into a truly professional outfit since then.

 

[stefoid]

The Bulldog Tragician has just posted her article on JUH

www.bulldogtragician.com

quality stuff from the tragician

 

[D Mitchell]

..

When you have a vicious circle like that it can be hard to break out of it. Success breeds success. Failure breeds failure.

Surviving past Fightback into the AFL era was the most crucial event in our VFL history. We've gradually built into a truly professional outfit since then.

It should never have got to that. How did C'wood and / or R'mond prosper with their miniscule geographic bases ? Footscray was always multiple times the sizes of both put together. I reckon I know why. What do you think ?

 

[dogwatch]

It should never have got to that. How did C'wood and / or R'mond prosper with their miniscule geographic bases ? Footscray was always multiple times the sizes of both put together. I reckon I know why. What do you think ?

There are probably many reasons, some going right back to the 19th century.
Richmond and Collingwood were already long established in the VFL from 1897 & 1908 so most of the population had their separate VFA and VFL allegiances before 1925. Footscray, North and Hawthorn had to compete with and crack that market. As club allegiances tend to run through generation after generation within a family that was no easy task.

Richmond had won 2 flags before we entered the VFL and 5 before we won our first. Collingwood had won 5 before we entered the VFL and 12 before we won our first, including the famous four-peat from 1927-1930. As I said, success breeds success and failure breeds failure. We had appeared in only four finals series before the 1950s (4th each time) and lost our first semi-final each time. We had never won a final until 1953. Hawthorn and North fared even worse until Hawthorn's flag in 1961 and its long run of success starting in the 70s ... but that's another story.

You may also find that the Footscray population was pretty similar in size to the Richmond and Collingwood populations back in the 1930s (I have no evidence for this - just a guess).

But I'm sure there's a quite lot more to it than that.
What's your theory?

 

[D Mitchell]

T...
What's your theory?

My theory would have me hounded off this board with accusations of any number of -isms. A hint. Look at the ethnic/socio economic status of the past 2 presidents, now regarded as the 2 best in the history of the Club (I dispute that, look at Dr Tony Capes, Harry Dolphin, Otto Grobbecker, going all the way back to back to the Flemington baker, leave out and respect the wishes for anonymity of the Cumming and Spurling families). Some groups accept the status quo, others say 'we've come half way around the world, this is a new world, we're not putting up with that s..t, here'. Perhaps F'scray fitted into the former category, C'wood & R'mond, the latter. Further hint, look at the successful clubs between the Wars, the era when family allegiances mattered, they haven't for 2 generations, now. We've prospered in the later environment.

Bed time.

 

[Byron Street]

The Wearmouth story doesn’t surprise me but is reflective of the VFL era, not the AFL era. We have our $hit together now. The period from the mid-60s to 1990 was reflective of the fact that we just had no money.

 

[Byron Street]

I remember Dick Wearmouth well from the early 1950s. Our centre line was the best in the competition -- Wearmouth, Box, and McLaren. "Dicky" was a lightning-fast runner, much like JJ. He'd run and bounce, and was an excitement machine. Box won the Brownlow -- a great player. And, George ("Binger") McLaren was our vice-captain. He was experienced, and very composed. Our backline for 1954 would rank with any of the great backlines in VFL, AFL history. Donald, Henderson, Bryden, Martin, Whitten, Gallagher. All of them stars. In 1954 the "points against" for the home-and-away season was less than 1000 (I think!).